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Cartoon By Dr. Seuss
It's been more than 65 years. But the slogan of the RNC and of the McCain Candidacy, "Country First" consciously evokes a slogan from America's recent, right wing, isolationist, antisemitic past, "America First." It's troubling, and it's not an accident. The Republicans might appear at first to be tone deaf. Or maybe they don't recall history. But I doubt it. The phrase "Country First", echoing "America First", is a blatant signal to the far right, the very same people to whom the Republicans offered the Palin nomination, that a McCain candidacy shares their extremist ideological goals.
Join me over the jump.
The history is ugly. The America First Committee (AFC) was formed in 1940 and focused primarily on keeping the US out of the Second World War. A primary spokesperson for AFC was Charles Lindbergh.
You will recall Lindbergh's famous, solo flight across the Atlantic. You might not recall that in 1938 Luftwaffe chief Herman Goering presented Lindbergh with a medal in behalf of Adolf Hitler. Following Kristallnacht, Lindbergh sparked enormous controversy by refusing to return that medal.
Lindbergh declined to return the medal, later writing (according to A. Scott Berg) "It seems to me that the returning of decorations, which were given in times of peace and as a gesture of friendship, can have no constructive effect. If I were to return the German medal, it seems to me that it would be an unnecessary insult. Even if war develops between us, I can see no gain in indulging in a spitting contest before that war begins."
Two years later, Lindbergh, who still had the medal, remained a spokesman for AFC:
On June 20, 1940 Lindbergh spoke to a rally in Los Angeles billed as "Peace and Preparedness Mass Meeting". In his speech of that day, Lindbergh criticized those movements he perceived as leading America into the war. He proclaimed that the United States was in a position that made it virtually impregnable and he pointed out that when interventionists said "the defense of England" they really meant "defeat of Germany." Lindbergh's presence at the Hollywood Bowl rally was overshadowed, however, by the presence of fringe elements in the crowd.However, nothing did more to escalate the tensions than the speech he delivered to a rally in Des Moines, Iowa on September 11, 1941. In that speech he identified the forces pulling America into the war as the British, the Roosevelt administration, and the Jews. While he expressed sympathy for the plight of the Jews in Germany, he argued that America's entry into the war would serve them little better. He said in part:
It is not difficult to understand why Jewish people desire the overthrow of Nazi Germany. The persecution they suffered in Germany would be sufficient to make bitter enemies of any race. No person with a sense of the dignity of mankind can condone the persecution the Jewish race suffered in Germany. But no person of honesty and vision can look on their pro-war policy here today without seeing the dangers involved in such a policy, both for us and for them.Instead of agitating for war the Jewish groups in this country should be opposing it in every possible way, for they will be among the first to feel its consequences. Tolerance is a virtue that depends upon peace and strength. History shows that it cannot survive war and devastation. A few farsighted Jewish people realize this and stand opposed to intervention. But the majority still do not. Their greatest danger to this country lies in their large ownership and influence in our motion pictures, our press, our radio, and our government.
For a full text of the Des Moines speech, go here. To hear it, go here.
And who were the fringe elements in the crowd in Hollywood? Newspaper headlines before the speech announced, "L.A. NAZI'S PREPARE FOR LINDBERGH RALLY." And it has been widely written that in addition to the Nazis, Lindbergh shared many followers with Father Coughlin.
Later, Lindbergh was on the defensive, claiming that he wasn't really an anti-semite. And the bombing of Pearl Harbor forced the end of the AFC and its arguments for "neutrality."
That's the relevant history.
The RNC's use of the phrase "Country First" clearly echoes the phrase "America First." Both are extreme. Both seek to imply that those who disagree are, if not outright traitors, unacceptably less patriotic, and that those who disagree find primacy instead in foreign, alien, liberal values, values that are unpatriotic, instead of American.
This isn't a dog whistle only the right can hear. As buhdy pointed out in a comment recently, this is a bull horn. And it's typical, old time, right wing Republican politics. This isn't about change, it's about atavism.
And then there's this:
We had five candidates and the one I favored is very young, inexperienced and male, still a big minority in nursing. My belief was that if we did not hire him another institution was going to snap him up and apparently for once in my career I was on the same side as the big dogs who decided to he was the right choice.
His big negative was a lack of experience. And we are already talking about experience in this charmingly obtuse political season. Who has it. Who doesn't. What kind of "experience" do we want?
Think about how many big steps in life we take with no experience. The first time you get married, have your first child, drive a car, go on a date. Think about all the incredibly bad advice you got from those so called "experienced" people. Sure I am guilty of playing the middled aged "experience" card myself when I doll out my advice and I am just as often wrong.
The only relevant experience for being president is being president. Of course it ends up that I am defending the choice of Palin by saying this and actually her lack of experience doesn't bother me: it is the crazy packaged as middle America that irks me. That is the genius of American cultural hegemony. It is so broad and vague that almost anybody can be made to seem just like you and I when they aren't.
We are taking a chance on a new manager at my workplace. I don't know what change he is bringing but I just coherent enough to know change is coming and I can either rely on my old patterns of thinking and risk becoming professionally irrelevant or learn to surf in the new ocean. People often say that change for the sake of change isn't necessarily better but nor is it necessarily worse.
What good is experience if it is just used to enforce an existing and decaying order? What good are leadership skills it they are merely a repetition of worn out tunes? Most leadership skills are acquired when one becomes one anyway. Of course I have had plenty of leadership training at my work place but it happened long after I took my position and after I basically asked for it.
Experience in politics, at work, and in life is only a useful tool if one actually decides to learn from it, to admit mistakes and formulate new approaches.
Otherwise claiming credibility because one is experienced is the equivalent of saying I am entitled to lead because I ain't dead yet.
"In light of Jackson Browne's lifelong commitment to Democratic ideals and political candidates, the misappropriation of Jackson Browne's endorsement is entirely reprehensible, and I have no doubt that a jury will agree."
(h/t:Scribb for saving me from linkscrounging)
"Sarah Palin's views and values in NO WAY represent us as American women. We ask that our song 'Barracuda' no longer be used to promote her image. The song 'Barracuda' was written in the late 70s as a scathing rant against the soulless, corporate nature of the music business, particularly for women. (The 'barracuda' represented the business.) While Heart did not and would not authorize the use of their song at the RNC, there's irony in Republican strategists' choice to make use of it there."
"This is yet another example of John McCain not learning anything from George Bush's mistakes," (Rep. John) Hall (D-NY and Orleans) wrote First Read in an interview over e-mail. "First, McCain adopted Bush's failed policy of an open-ended war in Iraq, then he wrapped his arms around the failed Bush economic policies that have put the squeeze on middle class families. Now, he's making the same mistake George Bush made illegally using a copyrighted song without asking either the writers or the performers for permission...(w)hat is at issue here is Senator McCain's use of the song to try and advance an agenda that I do not support without respecting copyright law and intellectual property,"
(AP) It may be "Our Country," but it's John Mellencamp's song.When the liberal rocker found out his songs were being played at events for Republican John McCain's presidential campaign, Mellencamp's publicist sent a letter that questioned the campaign's playlist.
"Are you sure you want to use his music to promote Senator McCain's efforts?" according to the letter sent to McCain's campaign on Monday. "Logic says that the facts might prove to be an embarrassment, were they to be circulated widely."
As the good folks at Wired magazine report, the McCain campaign failed to license Valli's hits--a pricey but, alas, necessary move--and the Warner Music Group asserted its copyright claim against YouTube, eventuating the takedown. Wired notes that "it's ironic that a United States senator, who has been part of a body that has so repudiated the idea of fair-use, is feeling the repeated stings resulting from its own legislative history." But we here at Stumper headquarters think that the more interesting--and/or hilarious--story is McCain's utter inability to find a single rock star willing to associate his or her songs with the campaign.
John McCain ended the big rally introducing Sarah Palin as his running mate with the Van Halen song "Right Now," and the band is not pleased, reports TMZ:After John McCain used a Van Halen song during his big speech earlier today, the band wants to make to make one thing clear -- they're not running with McCain.
Van Halen management tells us the band had no idea McCain was planning on using "Right Now" during his big entrance in Ohio telling us, "Permission was not sought or granted nor would it have been given."
Browne's lawyer Lawrence Iser says this ain't the first time McCain has done this -- he did it with ABBA's "Take a Chance on Me" and well-known Democrat John Mellencamp's song "Pink Houses."
There's an important diary up over on DailyKos, posted by Elise, that you all need to read:
I've got the opening excerpted after the jump.
Here's the opening:
_____
Health and Human Services Secretary Michael Leavitt has proposed a new rule that will limit the rights of women to receive medically accurate information and treatment. The alleged goal of the rule is to protect the rights of health care workers, volunteers, and trainees. The result would be limited access to birth control and abortion for women all over the country - regardless of state law.
From CNN:
The rule, which applies to institutions receiving government money, would require as many as 584,000 employers ranging from major hospitals to doctors' offices and nursing homes to certify in writing that they are complying with several federal laws that protect the conscience rights of health care workers. Violations could lead to a loss of government funding and legal action to recoup federal money already paid.
The comment period ends on September 25th. We have 19 days until this rule takes effect.
_____
Read the whole thing. What it amounts to is an attempt to further restrict choices and options for women everywhere with regard to the availability of birth control information, medicine, medical services and related health issues. It further impacts the capacity of women to make a choice regarding abortion, as well as permits healthcare providers and insurance carriers -- and a host of others -- to deny service and tell the patient to seek help elsewhere, without having to provide a recommendation or referral.
It's another attempt to subvert a woman's right to choose and her capacity to control her own body and life, and it's insidious in nature.
According to the diary update, "Junkyard Dem has added a link to Digg." Digg it. Alert others. Spread the word and stop this obscenity before it becomes the new standard and means to further restrict and control the rights of women in our society.
For those interested in the Native Americans of Southern LA, I'll post on that tomorrow...however, this is another issue that burns me up, so here's the rant on this...
It's a complex issue, but I'll try to make it short and bittersweet. Mental health issues are not treated like physical health issues by insurance companies. Despite the fact that neuroscience has now clearly linked many mental health disorders like depression, bipolar disorder, PTSD, ADHD, etc. to genetic issues or chemical imbalances, these are still considered conditions that do not merit the same level of coverage as physical health issues like cancer. Why? Because it would cost more money...the helath insurers generally treat these as they did in the 1970's, offering limited..if any...coverage.
You can go to the National Institute of Mental Health website for the stats..I won't bore anyone with them here. However, they indicate that 13 million Americans have some form of debilitating mental health issue and nearly 60 million have a mental health issue of any form. As with other forms of health care, minorities and the poor suffer more fro m these issues--often due to a lack of care--than other population groups.
Further, this should not be a Red or Blue issue, as anyone, from any background can develop a disorder. For example, I have a good friend who developed schizophrenia while in college. He was from a well-off family, had attended a very good private college prep school and was enrolled in one of the top universities. He started developing symptoms in his sophomore year. He dropped out, and fell into a spiral that eventually found him homeless or in jail. He was eventually able to get help, and now lives a precarious, though stable, life on disability. He is one of the lucky ones, as he had family and friends who gave a shit. Others aren't so lucky in their support.
Mental Health Parity has been a rallying cry amongst MH practitioners for years. Essentially, this would require insurance companies to treat MH issues as they would physical ailments or injuries. Currently, either coverage is not allowed, or it is very limited. Even a good plan may limit the number of therapy or psychiatric visits in a year and have high copays. The first Mental Health Parity Act was introduced by Senator Paul Wellstone. There have been provisional bills past as well as many revisions and iterations of related legislation. Many states have enacted their own laws, but to date there has not been a ratified act.
A much more comprehensive measure passed the House this year, sponsored by Patrick J. Kennedy. However, the Senate has stalled the legislation over partisan (i.e., GOP) concerns that this would put an undue burden on "small" business owners and would cause a raise in taxes.
So, where have the candidates been on this?
Obama was part of the effort in Illinois. According to the Chicago Sun Times,
Obama Passed IL Mental Health Parity Law; Members Of Both Parties Sponsored The Bill. Obama co-sponsored and voted for mental health parity bill that requires coverage for serious mental illnesses to be provided on the same terms and conditions as are applicable to other illnesses and diseases. [92nd GA; SB 1341; 4/5/01, 3R P 51-0-6; Signed into law 7/27/01, PA 92-0185]
From his website:
"Under the Obama plan, private insurance offered by employers and both the private and public insurance plans will include coverage of all essential medical services, including mental health care. Obama is a strong supporter of mental health parity and he believes that serious mental illnesses must be covered on the same terms and conditions as are applicable to physical illnesses and diseases. He does not think health insurance companies should be allowed to discriminate against the mentally ill."
As for Biden, he was a cosponsor of the Wellstone act and has this to say:
Even though mental disorders are widespread in the population, mental disorders and people suffering from them face great stigmatism and discrimination. We must work to reduce the stigma attached to mental illness, and to create opportunities for people to seek help and treatment for their illness. I believe in investing in research for new methods of prevention and treatment, and working to make sure these innovations are available to patients by guaranteeing that insurance providers must provide full parity for mental health treatment. I was a co-sponsor of the Paul Wellstone Mental Health Equitable Treatment Act and I remain committed to the goals of the act as a cosponsor of the Mental Health Parity Act of 2007 in this Congress. In addition, I have fought to make sure that Medicare patients pay the same co-payments and deductibles for a mental health issue as they would for a physical injury.
He further promised (at that time running for president) that he would promote mental health parity through new legislation.
McCain has voted against mental health parity and, in his health care "plan" on his website makes no mention of mental health as an issue. I haven't been able to find anything on Palin--no surprise there...
In a statement made in response to a questionnaire from the National Alliance for Mental Health (the questionnaire was unanswered, McCain's campaign said this:
The next President will face a great challenge due to the rising cost of health care of all types. America has the finest doctors and medical science, and the treatment of mental health has shared in these advances. However, as with other aspects of our health care system, spending on mental and behavioral health treatments is rising rapidly. The challenge is to ensure high quality care, establish incentives to control the growth of costs, and thereby permit greater affordable choices.Mental health is a necessary complement to physical health in all aspects of our daily lives. Fortunately, the path to greater quality and lower costs is to recognize this fact and where possible provide incentives to treat physical and behavioral health together. Chronic disease is a dominant component of the growth in spending on health care and many of our citizens with chronic illnesses have a behavioral health problem as well. For example, untreated depression raises dramatically the cost of treating the physical ailments of a diabetic. A sensible goal is to design reimbursement for taking care of the whole patient, whatever ails them, and recognize the essential role mental health treatment plays in the overall health of the patient and the reduction in physical health needs.
I have stressed the central role of personal responsibility in leading to lower health care costs. Personal fitness and better lifestyles, especially reduction in addictions of all types - food, narcotics, or cigarettes - can yield dramatic improvements in the cost of chronic illness and high?cost medical care. We can do a better job of treating addictions, but we also have an obligation to do a better job of teaching our children the benefits of good lifestyles and the perils of addictive activities.
I have a strong record fighting for the needs of America's most vulnerable including those seeking better mental health. I have consistently supported public housing programs that play a significant role in helping meet the housing needs of many seriously mentally ill Americans, and have been a leader in the effort to eradicate homelessness among our Nation's veterans - many of whom are fighting mental illness. I believe America needs strong leadership and a commitment to bold solutions to address the challenges that it faces. We can provide quality mental health that is more responsive to our needs and is delivered to more people at lower cost.
Most of this is bullshit when dealing with mental health issues. The choice is very clear if one cares about this issue.
Most people have focused their attention on Arctic sea-ice melt, but the heating of the water and the air that is driving the breakup of Arctic ice shelves is also taking down all of the regions ice sheets as well. Similarly, increased melt rates have been noted in Greenland and Antarctica, while mountain glaciers are also losing mass at unprecedented rates. See chart below:
There can be no doubt that we are now past the tipping point for ice melt worldwide.
First the sea ice.
The chart below shows sea ice melt rates by month and sea in 2008.
Sea ice extent on September 4, 2008 compared with...
Sea ice extent on September 4, 2007, the current record year.
MSNBC has reported on the collapse of the ice shelves:
Derek Mueller, an Arctic ice shelf specialist at Trent University in Ontario, told The Associated Press that the 4,500-year-old Markham Ice Shelf separated in early August and the 19-square-mile shelf is now adrift in the Arctic Ocean.
The peak temperature the team recorded was 67.5 degrees Fahrenheit (19.7 degrees Celsius), far above the average of 46 degrees Fahrenheit.
This NASA Earth Observatory image identifies each of the 5 remaining Canadian ice shelves on Ellesmere island and shows their breakup over a 5 week period.
According to Dr. Warwick Vincent of Laval University:
"I think we're at a point where it is not stoppable but it can be slowed down. And if you think about the magnitude of effects on our society, then we really need to buy ourselves more time to get ready for some very substantial changes that are ahead," he said.
Markham ice sheet overview from Environment Canada
Mueller also said that two large sections of ice detached from the Serson Ice Shelf, shrinking that ice feature by 47 square miles - or 60 percent - and that the Ward Hunt Ice Shelf has also continued to break up, losing an additional eight square miles.
July-August, 2008 MODIS image from the Rapid Response Project at NASA/GSFC. Animation courtesy Derek Mueller, Trent University.
This comes on the heels of unusual cracks in a northern Greenland glacier, rapid melting of a southern Greenland glacier, and a near record loss for Arctic sea ice this summer.
And earlier this year a 160-square mile chunk of an Antarctic ice shelf disintegrated.
Wilkins ice sheet collapsing. Courtesy of European Space Agency.
The CBC also reported on the ice shelves' collapse:
The ice shelves on the north coast of Ellesmere lost 214 square kilometres over the summer, or an area three times larger than Manhattan Island, said a group of researchers from Ontario, Quebec and the United States on Tuesday.The entire Markham ice shelf broke away in early August and is now adrift in the Arctic Ocean, carving away 50 square kilometres. Two large sections of the Serson ice shelf also broke off, shrinking it by 122 square kilometres or about 60 per cent. The Ward Hunt ice shelf lost 22 square kilometres.
This means that Quttinirpaaq National Park, Canada's most northerly, may soon lose its last remaining ice shelf after the loss of its other ice shelf, the Markham, this summer.
Only recently named for a respected Arctic scientist, Harold Serson, the Serson Ice Shelf dammed a 76 km2 freshwater lake measuring approximately four meters deep that sits atop the sea water. The loss of this rare ecosystem is a possibility since it is dependent on the ice shelf staying intact. Dr. Warwick Vincent, Director of Laval University's Centre for Northern Studies and a researcher in the program ArcticNet, has been studying the ecology of northern Ellesmere Island for more than ten years. He has just returned from his latest expedition to the area, where he observed dramatic changes along the coast. "These ice shelves are formed from the Arctic's thickest and oldest marine ice" he says, "and the extent of their loss this season is significant. Unique ecosystems that depend on this ice are on the brink of extinction."
The Northwest Passage is now open in two places:
The above image is from August 8, 2008 when only Amundsen's Route was open.
Envisat ASAR mosaic from mid-August 2008 showing an almost ice-free Northwest Passage. The direct route through the Northwest Passage is highlighted in the picture by an orange line. The orange dotted line shows the indirect route, called the Amundsen Northwest Passage, which has been passable for almost a month.
Two centuries of fossil fuel consumption have brought us to this: melting ice, species extinction, depleted water supplies, and rising sea levels. For much of humanity, however, it does not seem to have brought any insight. Does anyone besides me find these images from last week's Republican National Convention terrifyingly reminiscent of the Two Minutes Hate in George Orwell's 1984? Only now the hatred is directed against the entire planet and everyone who wishes to live sustainably upon it.
Crossposted at Climaticide Chronicles
| From Yahoo News Top Stories |
1 Questions remain on Palin vetting
By DAN JOLING, Associated Press Writer
Sat Sep 6, 11:04 AM ET
| ANCHORAGE, Alaska - John McCain's presidential campaign did not speak with the Alaska House speaker and other leading Republicans before McCain tapped Gov. Sarah Palin as his running mate.
The low-profile vetting allowed McCain to spring Palin onto the national scene uncolored by media scrutiny. But it has left the campaign open to criticism that McCain did not fully explore her qualifications. "I haven't heard of anybody being contacted, not that that's bad," said John Harris, speaker of the state House of Representatives. "I just haven't heard of anybody." |
2 Democrats post big gains in voter registration
By JULIE PACE and STEPHEN OHLEMACHER, Associated Press Writers
2 hours, 16 minutes ago
| CLAIRTON, Pa. - Five days a week, Linda Graham trolls tattered neighborhoods of this once thriving steel city outside Pittsburgh for unregistered voters she can sign up as Democrats - one of thousands of unknown volunteers whose work outside the limelight has already altered the basic arithmetic of the November election.
The epic nomination battle between Barack Obama and Hillary Rodham Clinton helped put millions more Democrats on the voter rolls while Republican registration declined. Now Graham, 45, has taken three months of unpaid leave from her job at Pittsburgh's Central Blood Bank in the hope of adding to those gains before the presidential vote. She's encouraged by the response here. "They're all feeling the crunch" of lost jobs and a sagging economy, Graham said. "But people are feeling empowered. They're feeling like, you know what, I hold a little bit of power in this." |
3 Obama hits McCain on Social Security
By CHARLES BABINGTON, Associated Press Writer
Sat Sep 6, 9:40 AM ET
| NEWARK, N.J. - Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama criticized Republican John McCain's approach to Social Security on Saturday, saying it would undermine the government program aimed mainly at retirees.
Obama said McCain's campaign has suggested trimming Social Security benefits and raising the eligibility age, according to prepared remarks of his speech to a gathering of the AARP. Obama was addressing the group via satellite. McCain has not specifically embraced such plans. But by saying "everything is on the table" in discussing changes to Social Security, he has opened himself to such criticisms from Democrats. |
4 Spacecraft flies by remote asteroid, camera stops
By KATRIN SCHIEFER and GEORGE FREY, Associated Press Writers
Sat Sep 6, 9:51 AM ET
| DARMSTADT, Germany - The European deep space probe Rosetta successfully completed a flyby of an asteroid millions of miles from earth, but its high resolution camera stopped shortly before the closest pass, space officials said Saturday.
Rosetta caught up with the Steins asteroid, also known as Asteroid 2867, just after 8:45 p.m. (1845 GMT) Friday in the asteroid belt between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter. The probe came within 500 miles (805 kilometers) of the asteroid - which turned out to be slightly larger than scientists expected. Officials at the European Space Agency were not sure exactly what caused the camera to balk. |
5 Boeing machinists strike
By Bill Rigby and Laura Myers, Reuters
Sat Sep 6, 7:25 AM ET
| NEW YORK/EVERETT, Washington (Reuters) - Boeing Co's (BA.N) 27,000-strong machinists' union walked off the job on Saturday after the plane maker failed to improve its contract offer after two days of emergency talks.
At midnight, a crowd of more than 100 employees gathered near the entrance of Boeing's factory in Everett, Washington, whistling, honking and waving picket signs as the strike got underway. A small police presence ensured the scene was calm. "Despite meeting late into the night and throughout the day, continued contract talks with the Boeing Company did not address our issues," Tom Wroblewski, the IAM's Seattle-area president, said in a letter to members. "The strike is on." |
6 Zardari wins Pakistan election
By Robert Birsel, Reuters
1 hour, 58 minutes ago
| ISLAMABAD (Reuters) - Asif Ali Zardari, the widower of former Pakistani prime minister Benazir Bhutto, swept to victory in a presidential election on Saturday.
Underscoring the problems he faces, a suicide car bomber killed at least 30 people in an attack on a police post in the northwestern city of Peshawar. Nearly 70 people were injured and police said the death toll could rise further as many people were buried under the rubble of nearby buildings brought down by the blast. |
7 Turkish president pays historic visit to Armenia
by Nicolas Cheviron, AFP
46 minutes ago
| YEREVAN (AFP) - Turkey's President Abdullah Gul paid an historic visit to Armenia on Saturday, seeking to end bitter animosity that dates back to the killing of Armenians under the Ottoman Empire.
In the first trip by a Turkish head of state to the ex-Soviet nation, Gul held talks with Armenian counterpart Serzh Sarkisian, after which the two pledged to overcome decades of enmity. Both leaders said there was now the "political will" to mend ties between the two neighbours before heading off together to Yerevan's Hrazdan stadium to watch a World Cup football qualifier between their nations. |
8 US-Russia tensions deepen over Georgia
by Kerry Sheridan, AFP
53 minutes ago
| CERNOBBIO, Italy (AFP) - US-Russia tensions over Georgia deepened Saturday with Vice President Dick Cheney casting Moscow as a brutal regime that aims to recapture its Soviet-era dominance.
In the US administration's most hawkish remarks since Russia's five-day war with Georgia last month, Cheney reminded the West of its "responsibilities" and criticised Russia for its "chain of aggressive moves." Cheney's tough talk came hours after Russian President Dmitry Medvedev warned that Moscow was a "force to be reckoned with," as tensions between Russia and the West soared to heights unseen since the Cold War. |
9 As Gustav evacuees return to New Orleans, a varied homecoming
By Alexandra Marks, The Christian Science Monitor
Fri Sep 5, 4:00 AM ET
| New Orleans - As Gustav evacuees return home, and as those who stayed put survey the terrain, it's apparent how much a hurricane's unpredictability can cause varying degrees of damage.
For Francis "Big Mama" McShane, who had evacuated to Natchez, La., the homecoming to New Orleans in the wake of hurricane Gustav brought an unrivaled sense of relief. On Wednesday afternoon, she turned the key in the lock and pushed open the door of the house she'd lived in for 22 years - the one that had been left under 12 feet of water after Katrina. She paused, peered in, and said, "Thank you, Jesus, thank you, God." |
10 Reported U.S. attack upsets Pakistan
By Mark Sappenfield, The Christain Science Monitor
Thu Sep 4, 4:00 AM ET
| New Delhi - A high-ranking Pakistani official has alleged that American ground forces crossed over from Afghanistan to carry out an attack on Pakistan soil.
While the United States has frequently been connected with missile attacks in Pakistan - usually carried out by pilotless drone aircraft - this claim, if true, would mark "a threshold being crossed," says Ikram Sehgal, editor of Defence Journal in Karachi, Pakistan. US forces have so far not been definitively linked to any ground operations in Pakistan, and the Pakistan government has repeatedly said it will not allow such an operation - which it calls a violation of national sovereignty - to take place. |
11 This round, Pentagon may keep General Petraeus offstage
By Gordon Lubold, The Christian Science Monitor
Thu Sep 4, 4:00 AM ET
| Washington - Days before the top US commander in Iraq gives his official assessment on troop levels there, a high-level move is afoot to keep Gen. David Petraeus out of the political spotlight. Many senior Pentagon officials want to shift public and lawmaker attention away from Iraq to Afghanistan.
Widely credited with improving security in Iraq, General Petraeus will soon recommend reducing troops there from perhaps a handful of support troops to as many as two combat brigades. Members of Congress have requested that Petraeus make another appearance on Capitol Hill, sure to draw the kind of attention that a visit from the high-profile general engenders. The Defense Department has refused that request, ostensibly because of scheduling issues. But as the Pentagon struggles to muster more troops for Afghanistan, officials worry that the general's testimony on Iraq will upstage other needs. |
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12 Iraq's anti-Qaeda fighters fear for their future
by Ali al-Tuwaijri, AFP
Sat Sep 6, 5:54 AM ET
| BAQUBA, Iraq (AFP) - Sunni Arab fighters battling Al-Qaeda in Iraq say their future is bleak as the Shiite government prepares to take over responsibility for them from the Americans and they also face jihadist fury.
Nearly every week Abdullah al-Samarraie meets government officials as he seeks a job. The 30-year-old anti-Qaeda fighter wants to use his skills as a policeman or soldier in Iraq's security forces. Samarraie has been fighting against Al-Qaeda extremists in Baquba, one of the most dangerous cities in the country, but has yet to find employment. |
13 Silver State Bank in Nevada is shut
By MARCY GORDON, AP Business Writer
Sat Sep 6, 1:29 AM ET
| WASHINGTON - Regulators on Friday shut down Silver State Bank, saying the Nevada bank failed because of losses on soured loans, mainly in commercial real estate and land development.
It was the 11th failure this year of a federally insured bank. Nevada regulators closed Silver State and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. was appointed receiver of the bank, based in Henderson, Nev. It had $2 billion in assets and $1.7 billion in deposits as of June 30. |
| From Yahoo News Most Popular, Most Emailed |
14 McCain's backdrop baffles California school
AFP
Fri Sep 5, 6:26 PM ET
| LOS ANGELES (AFP) - Staff at a California school were scratching their heads on Friday after their facility mysteriously appeared as a backdrop during John McCain's Republican Convention speech.
A giant image of Walter Reed Middle School in the Los Angeles suburb of North Hollywood was one of several pictures projected onto a backdrop at the Republican Convention on Thursday as McCain addressed delegates. However ABC and online reports have speculated McCain's campaign could have intended to show a picture of the prestigious Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington D.C. rather than a relatively obscure school in California. |
15 Rep. Frank: gov't will stabilize Fannie, Freddie
By ALAN ZIBEL, AP Business Writer
6 minutes ago
| WASHINGTON - A top House Democrat confirmed Saturday that the government is planning to intervene to stabilize troubled mortgage finance companies Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.
Rep. Barney Frank, D-Mass., the chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, said in a statement that Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson "intends to use the powers that Congress provided it" in a law passed in July to enable Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to keep functioning. But Frank, who spoke with Paulson late Friday, said he did not "know the details of the proposed interventions," and a Treasury spokeswoman declined to comment. |
| From Yahoo News World |
16 Blast, clashes in northwest Pakistan kills 54
By RIAZ KHAN, Associated Press Writer
1 hour, 48 minutes ago
| PESHAWAR, Pakistan - A pickup truck packed with explosives blew up a police security checkpoint in northwestern Pakistan Saturday, killing at least 30 people and injuring dozens more, the day after a foiled militant kidnap attempt led to another 24 deaths in the volatile region.
The suicide attack occurred on the outskirts of Peshawar on the day Pakistani lawmakers voted for a new president, underscoring the challenges facing a country the U.S. has pressured to crack down on insurgents. Television footage showed a blast crater 3 feet deep, destroyed vehicles and pieces of debris scattered across a large area. Officials said many people were trapped under the rubble of two collapsed buildings in a nearby market. Civilians dug frantically with their hands in hopes of finding survivors. |
17 Russia accuses West of provocation in Georgia
By Oleg Shchedrov and Aidar Buribayev, Reuters
Sat Sep 6, 11:04 AM ET
| MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russian President Dmitry Medvedev accused the United States on Saturday of provoking Moscow by using warships to deliver relief aid to its ally Georgia, with which Russia fought a brief war last month.
"I wonder how they would feel if we now dispatched humanitarian assistance to the Caribbean, suffering from a hurricane, using our navy," Medvedev said, adding that a whole U.S. fleet had been dispatched to deliver the aid. Russia has also accused U.S. warships of rearming Tbilisi's defeated army, a charge dismissed as "ridiculous" by Washington. |
18 Voting in Angola election resumes amid controversy
By Paul Simao, Reuters
1 hour, 28 minutes ago
| LUANDA (Reuters) - Angolans voted for an unscheduled second day in a parliamentary election on Saturday amid charges the poll had been chaotic and violated the African nation's electoral law.
The election, Angola's first for 16 years, is largely a race between the ruling MPLA and UNITA, the main opposition party. It has been keenly watched because of controversy marring recent African polls and Angola's emergence as a major oil producer. Hopes the poll would go smoothly foundered on Friday when scores of polling stations failed to open on time, preventing many from voting in Luanda province, home to 21 percent of Angola's 8.3 million registered voters. |
19 Growing Apathy Toward Iraqi Elections
By RANIA ABOUZEID/BAGHDAD, Time Magazine
Fri Sep 5, 7:05 PM ET
| Iraq's Electoral Commission wants the country's squabbling parliamentarians to buckle down and agree to a contentious electoral law within the next few weeks. Otherwise, the much-anticipated and much-delayed provincial polls may be put off yet again. Washington, too, is anxious to see Iraqis head to the ballot box and shore up their fledging democracy. In spite of the high-level political anxiety, however, many ordinary people across the war-ravaged capital say that while elections would be nice, regular power and clean water is what they really want. Few feel that local elections will improve their lot. |
20 Can Soccer Heal Turkey-Armenia Rift?
By ANDREW PURVIS, Time Magazine
Sat Sep 6, 9:50 AM ET
| Soccer's world governing body FIFA pays no heed to historical enmities or geopolitical feuds in the draw for the World Cup qualifying tournament; only seedings count. That's how South Korea ended up facing the diplomatically sensitive challenge of having to beat North Korea in order to secure one of the 32 places at World Cup 2010 in South Africa. Even more potentially volatile was the May 31 match-up between Sudan and Chad - FIFA postponed that one indefinitely, because the two countries were on the brink of war. (A World Cup qualifier in which El Salvador beat Honduras in 1969 saw long-running tensions erupt into a brief war.) But many in Turkey and Armenia are seeing their national teams' World Cup encounter in Yerevan on Saturday as an opportunity to help thaw the troubled relationship between the two countries. |
21 Russian Aid Pours into South Ossetia
By JOHN WENDLE / TSKHINVALI, Time Magazine
47 minutes ago
| Rusuldana Doguzova, 75, stands crying in the second floor entrance of her brick house. Above her, the sun shines through a latticework of broken boards that was once the roof and onto a dust-covered china closet. During last month's battle for control of Tskhinvali, capital of the breakaway Georgian Republic of South Ossetia, a rocket crashed into the house Doguzova shares with her sister, spraying lines of shrapnel down the living room wall. A second rocket blew up in the garden, gouging the earth and knocking down trees. Beyond the garden fence, a concrete apartment building was burnt out after the fighting. "If the Russians hadn't come, we would have been wiped out," she says. |
22 How Fast Should Iraq Re-Arm?
By MARK THOMPSON/WASHINGTON, Time Magazine
48 minutes ago
| The disconnect on security between the U.S. and the government of Iraq crystallized Friday, as Washington made clear it is in no rush to pull troops out of Iraq, just as Baghdad made it clear it's shopping for 36 F-16 jet fighters that could end up costing the war-weary nation close to $4 billion. While it's easy to understand why the U.S. is leery of jeopardizing recent security gains with a hasty troop withdrawal - despite Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki insisting on a timetable for ending the American military presence - the logic of Baghdad's effort to acquire a fleet of sophisticated warplanes is less clear. |
23 Mackie Green: Canada's premier whale rescuer
By Colin Woodard, The Christian Science Monitor
Fri Sep 5, 4:00 AM ET
| Campobello Island, New Brunswick - If you're a Canadian fisherman and there's a 70-ton North Atlantic right whale thrashing about in your net - threatening itself and your crew - who are you going to call?
Here in the fogbound Fundy Isles, almost every lobster or herring fisherman has got Mackie Greene's number. Mr. Greene heads the Campobello Whale Rescue Team - three island fishermen trained in the delicate and dangerous art of freeing the leviathans of the deep from ropes and nets. If left entangled, many of the whales would die from infection (as the ropes cut into their skin) or malnutrition (when the entanglement slows them down or restricts their feeding). |
| From Yahoo News U.S. News |
24 FBI's civil rights initiative: no trials yet
By DEBORAH HASTINGS, AP National Writer
4 minutes ago
| WASHINGTON - Flanked by officials from the NAACP and the Southern Poverty Law Center, FBI Director Robert Mueller last year announced with considerable fanfare a new partnership between his agency and civil rights organizations.
The goal: To bring justice in long-ignored murders from the civil rights era. The outcome: Not one case has been prosecuted under the FBI's Cold Case Initiative, which actually began two years ago with no fanfare at all. |
25 Obama, McCain to appear at Ground Zero on 9/11
Reuters
2 hours, 32 minutes ago
| TERRE HAUTE, Indiana (Reuters) - Presidential nominees John McCain and Barack Obama will appear together on September 11 in New York at the site where the World Trade Center collapsed after being hit by hijacked planes in 2001.
"All of us came together on 9/11 -- not as Democrats or Republicans -- but as Americans. In smoke-filled corridors and on the steps of the Capitol; at blood banks and at vigils -- we were united as one American family," the two senators said in a joint statement issued on Saturday. "On Thursday, we will put aside politics and come together to renew that unity, to honor the memory of each and every American who died, and to grieve with the families and friends who lost loved ones." |
26 Home foreclosures reach record high
By Julie Haviv, Reuters
Fri Sep 5, 12:21 PM ET
| NEW YORK (Reuters) - Home foreclosures and the rate of homes entering foreclosure rose to record highs in the second quarter, the Mortgage Bankers Association said on Friday.
"The national foreclosure numbers continue to be driven by the hardest-hit states continuing to get much worse," Jay Brinkmann, the association's chief economist and senior vice president for research and economics, said in a news release. The increases in foreclosures in California and Florida overwhelmed improvements in states such as Texas, Massachusetts and Maryland, he said. |
27 Rise in unemployment shifts election debate
by Rob Lever, AFP
Sat Sep 6, 11:54 AM ET
| WASHINGTON (AFP) - The jump in US unemployment to a five-year high has heightened worries about recession and puts the struggling economy into sharp focus two months ahead of the presidential vote, analysts said.
Friday's Labor Department report showed a surge in the jobless rate to 6.1 percent as 84,000 jobs were slashed in August. As Democrat Barack Obama and Republican John McCain geared for the last two months of the presidential campaign, some economists said this report settles the debate about whether the US economy is headed for recession. |
28 Mike Huckabee: Still a GOP Star
By MICHAEL SCHERER / ST. PAUL, Time Magazine
Fri Sep 5, 6:40 PM ET
| Mike Huckabee may be the only politician in American political history who can turn painful childhood showers with Lava soap into a core statement of his political identity. He is most assuredly the only Republican to ever reference the Keanu Reeves movie, Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure in a convention speech. And he is definitely the only one who can pull off rewriting the lyrics to "Cocaine," Eric Clapton's hit homage to drug abuse, into a campaign theme song called "McCain." |
29 Are Evangelicals Really Sold on Palin?
By AMY SULLIVAN, Time Magazine
Fri Sep 5, 9:45 PM ET
| Sure, John McCain's selection of Sarah Palin to be his running matefully consumed a GOP convention that was supposed to be focused on thumpingBarack Obama over the head. And it may have raised questions about McCain's ownjudgment and seriousness. But, as we have been told ad nauseam sincethe surprise choice was announced last Friday, Palin has alreadyprovided one unquestionable, invaluable assist to the Republican campaign:with one sweep of her perfectly manicured hand, she has supposedly erasedMcCain's Evangelical problem and united the base that proved so key to George W. Bush's victory in 2004. |
| From Yahoo News Politics |
30 Palin: More and less than she seems
By MARTHA MENDOZA, AP National Writer
1 hour, 43 minutes ago
| WASILLA, Alaska - The mother kneels in the snow, cheerfully posing beside her bundled up daughter, behind the bloody, dead caribou the mom just shot.
Maybe not your typical family photo. But that's Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, the disarming mom who's not afraid to carry arms or use them. Palin would be a heartbeat away from the presidency if she and Republican nominee John McCain win in November. She was introduced to the country by McCain as very much the woman in that photo: tough and loving. She's the ethics-protecting, belt-tightening mom, who easily juggles family and her government job. |
31 EU gambles on next U.S. president, result secret
Reuters
Sat Sep 6, 10:50 AM ET
| AVIGNON, France (Reuters) - Europeans do not get to vote in the November U.S. presidential election, but many wish they did, and their foreign ministers decided that they would at least take a gamble behind closed doors.
During informal talks in Avignon, France, on the future of transatlantic relations, British Foreign Secretary David Miliband asked his European Union counterparts to bet on who would win the November 4 election. "He circulated a piece of paper ... I gave my answer. I think everybody did, didn't they?" French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner said at a news conference on Saturday. He declined to disclose the result. |
32 Nuclear nations approve disputed India trade waiver
By Mark Heinrich, Reuters
2 hours, 27 minutes ago
| VIENNA (Reuters) - Forty-five nations approved a U.S. proposal on Saturday to lift a global ban on nuclear trade with India in a breakthrough towards sealing a controversial U.S.-Indian atomic energy deal.
One hurdle remained before the U.S.-India deal can take force -- ratification by the U.S. Congress. It must act before adjourning in late September for elections or the deal could be left to an uncertain fate under a new U.S. administration. The U.S.-India deal raised international misgivings since India has shunned the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) meant to stop the spread and production of nuclear weapons and mandate gradual disarmament, and a companion test ban pact. |
33 Bush, Singh welcome approval of nuclear deal
AFP
2 hours, 53 minutes ago
| WASHINGTON (AFP) - US President George W. Bush and Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh Saturday welcomed the "historic achievement" of approval of a landmark civil nuclear cooperation deal between the two countries, the White House said.
"The two leaders congratulated each other on the consensus reached at the Nuclear Suppliers Group meeting in Vienna and expressed appreciation for the joint efforts made there to move forward with civil nuclear cooperation between the United States and India," spokesman Gordon Johndroe said of a phone call between Bush and Singh. "This is a historic achievement that strengthens global nonproliferation principals while assisting India to meet its energy requirements in an environmentally friendly manner," Johndroe said. |
34 Cheney rallies NATO to ward off Russian power grab
by Kerry Sheridan, AFP
2 hours, 1 minute ago
| CERNOBBIO, Italy (AFP) - Casting Moscow as a brutal regime that aims to recapture its Soviet-era dominance, US Vice President Dick Cheney on Saturday urged NATO to stand together against threats to democracy.
In the US administration's most hawkish tone since Russia's five-day war with Georgia last month over breakaway territory, Cheney reminded the West of its "responsibilities" and slammed Russia's "chain of aggressive moves." Cheney's tough talk came hours after Russian President Dmitry Medvedev warned that Moscow was a "force to be reckoned with," as tensions between Russia and the West soared to heights unseen since the Cold War. |
35 Talking points trump straight talk at GOP convention
By David Lightman, McClatchy Newspapers
Fri Sep 5, 5:10 PM ET
| ST. PAUL, Minn. - Alaska delegates to the Republican National Convention got a strong message this week from Republican officials as the media swarm kept bugging them about Gov. Sarah Palin : "STAY POSITIVE when talking with reporters."
The one-page "Republican National Convention Talking Points" sheet provided to them added: "No one is better suited to deal with the largest issue on voters minds: Energy." If reporters asked about indicted Sen. Ted Stevens , it advised the delegates: "As long as he does not receive jail time, he is legally capable of serving." Politicians and political parties have long tried to shape how they appear through the media's lens, to draw attention to their issues and to divert attention from possible trouble spots. The job is harder in the age of 24-hour news, Internet bloggers and partisan radio and cable talk shows than it was when Franklin D. Roosevelt could avoid having his picture taken in his wheelchair, John F. Kennedy's good looks helped him "win" a televised debate against Richard Nixon and Ronald Reagan was able to use his amiable image to cushion some tough economic and foreign policies. |
| From Yahoo News Business |
36 Report: Nomura considering stake in Lehman
Associated Press
Sat Sep 6, 4:34 AM ET
| TOKYO - Nomura Holdings Inc., Japan's largest brokerage group, is considering buying a stake in U.S. investment bank Lehman Brothers, a Japanese newspaper reported Saturday.
Nomura has funds exceeding more than $1.87 billion (200 billion yen) for investment or acquisition of U.S. and European financial institutions, and considering Lehman as "one of investment candidates," the Japanese newspaper Yomiuri said, quoting Nomura president Kenichi Watanabe as saying. Nomura plans to confirm Lehman's earnings results for the latest quarter, expected as early as next week, and studying subsequent share price movements before making a final decision of whether to make an offer, the Yomiuri said. |
37 Unemployment climbs to 5-year high of 6.1 percent
By JEANNINE AVERSA, AP Economics Writer
Fri Sep 5, 6:04 PM ET
| WASHINGTON - The nation's unemployment rate bolted above the psychologically important 6 percent level last month for the first time in five years - and it's likely to go even higher in the months ahead, possibly throwing the economy into a tailspin as Americans pick a new president.
A blizzard of pink slips propelled the jobless rate from 5.7 percent in July to 6.1 percent in August, the Labor Department reported Friday. Such a sharp increase is usually a strong recession warning, and it dashed investors' hopes for a late-year recovery. Worried about the economy and their own business prospects, employers cut payrolls by 84,000 in August, marking the eighth straight month of losses. |
38 Fannie, Freddie's boards meet Saturday to mull government plan
By Patrick Rucker, Reuters
1 hour, 3 minutes ago
| WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The boards of mortgage finance companies Fannie Mae (FNM.N) and Freddie Mac (FRE.N) were set to meet on Saturday to discuss a government plan to place the companies under federal control, sources said.
The U.S. Treasury Department plan to put the two government sponsored enterprises, which own or guarantee almost half of the country's $12 trillion in outstanding home mortgage debt, into federal conservatorship could amount to the largest financial bailout in the nation's history. Freddie Mac's board was expected to meet by phone today and receive a briefing on the Treasury's plan, two sources familiar with the board meeting said. |
39 GE gets "Wells notice" in SEC accounting probe
Reuters
Fri Sep 5, 5:55 PM ET
| CHICAGO (Reuters) - General Electric Co (GE.N) said on Friday it had been notified by U.S. regulators that a civil complaint could be filed against the company following a more than three-year-long probe into its use of hedge accounting for derivatives and other accounting matters.
In a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, the company said SEC staff had issued a so-called "Wells notice" on Thursday, advising GE the agency may "bring a civil injunctive action against GE for possible violations of the securities laws." GE said it was continuing to cooperate with the agency but disagreed with its latest move. |
40 Swedish fund pressuring Daimler to hive off trucks: report
AFP
Sat Sep 6, 12:38 PM ET
| BERLIN (AFP) - German car maker Daimler will not countenance any move to hive off its truck and van division, a spokesman said Saturday in response to reports that it is under pressure from a Swedish investment fund.
"It is not a subject for discussion," a spokesman for the Stuttgart-based manufacturer, whose most prestigious brand is Mercedes-Benz, told AFP. "We are against detaching the utility vehicles division." |
41 'Fruitful' talks but no deal to save India's cheap-car plant
by Sailendra Sil, AFP
Sat Sep 6, 11:52 AM ET
| KOLKATA, India (AFP) - Talks to end violent protests over a factory in eastern India to manufacture the world's cheapest car ended Saturday with no breakthrough.
But West Bengal's opposition Trinamool Congress party, which has been spearheading opposition to the plant, was hopeful an agreement could be reached in further talks with the Marxist state government. It said a new round of discussions might be held either Sunday or Monday in hopes of clinching an agreement. |
| From Yahoo News Science |
42 Feds warn climate change could harm giant sequoias
By GARANCE BURKE, Associated Press Writer
Fri Sep 5, 7:04 AM ET
| VISALIA, Calif. - Federal researchers are warning that warming temperatures could soon cause California's giant sequoia trees to die off more quickly unless forest managers plan with an eye toward climate change and the impact of a longer, harsher wildfire season.
Hot, dry weather over the last two decades already has contributed to the deaths of an unusual number of old-growth pine and fir trees growing in Yosemite and Sequoia National Parks, according to recent research from the U.S. Geological Survey. In the next decade, climate change also could start interfering with the giant sequoias' ability to sprout new seedlings, said Nathan Stephenson, one of several scientists speaking Thursday at a government agency symposium on how global warming could affect the Sierra Nevada. |
43 Oldest gorilla in captivity dies in Dallas at 55
By LINDA STEWART BALL, Associated Press Writer
Fri Sep 5, 9:10 PM ET
| DALLAS - The oldest gorilla in captivity, a 55-year-old female named Jenny, has died at the Dallas Zoo - her home for more than half a century, a spokesman said Friday.
Zoo officials decided to euthanize Jenny on Thursday night because of an inoperable tumor in her stomach. Jenny had stopped eating and drinking recently, and tests showed she was unlikely to recover, zoo spokesman Sean Greene said. "The last couple of weeks we noticed that she hadn't been feeling all that great," Greene said. "It was a quality-of-life decision." |
44 Raising vegetables under Canada's midnight sun
By Allan Dowd, Reuters
Thu Sep 4, 2:44 PM ET
| INUVIK, Northwest Territories (Reuters) - Amanda Joynt reached down and picked a fresh tomato from the vine. That's no small feat when you are living 200 km (120 miles) above the Arctic Circle in Canada's Far North.
Joynt, a resident of Inuvik is a member of the town's community greenhouse, a former ice hockey arena that has been converted into an oasis of vegetables and flowers on the permafrost. The building, shaped like a half-pipe, is North America's northernmost commercial greenhouse, and all but a necessity for anyone interested in eating a fresh vegetable in Inuvik that has not been shipped in from a warmer climate -- at a startlingly high cost. |
45 European space probe sees 'diamond in the sky'
AFP
29 minutes ago
| PARIS (AFP) - European scientists were jubilant on Saturday after the pride of their space fleet, racing towards a rendezvous with a comet in 2014, enjoyed a close encounter with an asteroid likened to a "diamond in the sky."
The unmanned craft Rosetta skimmed past an asteroid called (2867) Steins late Friday in a choreographed operation 360 million kilometres (225 million miles) from Earth that mission leaders admitted tested the one-billion-euro (1.45-billion-dollar) probe to the limit. "Steins looks like a diamond in the sky," said Uwe Keller, in charge of Rosetta's main cameras. "We observed a new jewel in the solar system." |
46 Despite Glitch, European Spacecraft's Asteroid Flyby a Success
Peter B. de Selding, Space News Staff Writer, SPACE.com
Sat Sep 6, 9:45 AM ET
| PARIS - Europe's Rosetta comet-chaser satellite successfully detoured to take a look at a rare type of asteroid Friday, getting a close-up view of the diamond-shaped Steins asteroid, a gray, 3-mile (5-km) wide rock that appears in images as a pock-marked with multiple craters that ultimately will help determine its age.
The European Space Agency (ESA) probe's narrow-angle camera apparently switched off as it closed in on the asteroid Steins, but the photo survey was ultimately "a sideline" mission to the actual flyby and another camera worked perfectly, ESA officials said in a post-flyby briefing early Saturday at the agency's ESOC space operations center in Darmstadt, Germany. "We were very conservative, perhaps too conservative," said Uwe Keller, principal investigator for Rosetta's OSIRIS camera, adding that the tool was put into safe mode and was not damaged. |
47 Storms Delay Shuttle Missions to Hubble, Space Station
Tariq Malik, Senior Editor SPACE.com
Fri Sep 5, 3:01 PM ET
| NASA's space shuttle Atlantis will blast off two days late next month due to delays from recent storms that have also waylaid a planned November shuttle mission, agency officials said Friday.
Atlantis is now set to launch no earlier than Oct. 10 from NASA's Kennedy Space Center (KSC) in Florida on the final mission to overhaul the Hubble Space Telescope. The second shuttle mission is now pegged for a Nov. 12 launch, two days later than planned, toward the International Space Station. The launch targets for both missions - NASA's last two of the year - were pushed back due to downtime associated with Tropical Storms Fay and Hanna, both of which hindered flight preparations for Atlantis and its Hubble instrument cargo at the seaside KSC spaceport in Cape Canaveral, Fla. |
48 Autism and Vaccines: Why Bad Logic Trumps Science
Benjamin Radford, LiveScience's Bad Science Columnist
Fri Sep 5, 1:41 PM ET
| The link between childhood autism and vaccines has, once again, been refuted. A large study by Columbia's Mailman School of Public Health Center for Infection and Immunity found no link between measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine and autism cases. For many in the medical community, the issue is now closed.
But why do many people continue to believe that there is a link despite overwhelming evidence? The answer is something that has more credibility than the best scientific study: personal experience. Many parents came to believe that vaccines caused their children's autism because the symptoms of autism appeared after the child received a vaccination. On a psychological level, that assumption and connection makes sense; but on a logical level, it is a clear and common fallacy with a fancy Latin name: post hoc ergo propter hoc ("after this, therefore because of it"). |
49 Extinction Circles Giant Vultures
LiveScience Staff
Fri Sep 5, 3:55 PM ET
| A shadow has fallen over endangered giant vultures whose captive populations are too small to save the species.
Captive breeding colonies currently lack the genetic diversity to ensure survival for oriental white-backed vultures (Gyps bengalensis) in the wild, where the birds are dropping dead from feeding on drug-tainted meat. The vultures boast a seven-foot wingspan and thrived in South Asia until the mid-1990s, when people started using an anti-inflammatory drug called diclofenac to treat arthritis-like symptoms in livestock. Vultures that fed on the tainted carcasses of the animals died of kidney failure within a day or two. |
50 Urban Surprise: More Bicyclists Means Fewer Accidents
LiveScience.com
Fri Sep 5, 5:32 PM ET
| In a study that at first glance seems counterintuitive, researchers at the University of New South Wales in Sydney, Australia, reviewed safety studies from 17 countries and 68 cities in California and found that the more people bike in a community, the less they collide with motorists.
"It appears that motorists adjust their behavior in the presence of increasing numbers of people bicycling because they expect or experience more people cycling," said Julie Hatfield, an injury expert from the university. With fewer accidents, people perceive cycling as safer, so more people cycle, thus making it even safer, she said. |
51 How Hot Is the Yellowstone Hotspot?
Clara Moskowitz, LiveScience Staff Writer
Sat Sep 6, 10:03 AM ET
| Yellowstone National Park has hot springs that can reach a scalding 150 degrees Fahrenheit (66 Celsius). But in recent years scientists have become interested in a different sort of hot spot - the area of hot molten rock flowing beneath the surface.
Researchers had figured this vast underground hotspot, which powers the park's famous geysers, would be off the charts. Not so, according to a new study. "Although Yellowstone sits above a plume of hot material coming up from deep with the Earth, it's a remarkably 'lukewarm' plume" compared to other plumes around the world, said researcher Derek Schutt of Colorado State University. |
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The Palin Watch Widget Republican Vice Presidential candidate Sarah Palin burst on the scene from nowhere - Nowhere, Alaska, that is. You know, the place where they wanted to build that bridge to. And despite the fact that nobody in at least 49 states knew the slightest bit about her, she rocketed to stardom as the leading light of American conservatism. Consequently, some Americans wanted to know more about the person who may become a 72 year old heartbeat from the presidency of the United States. They will be disappointed. The McCain campaign has sequestered Palin and will not permit reporters to interview her. They will allow no questions on the vetting process, or the abuse of power investigation that is currently underway. They refuse to clarify her positions on foreign policy or Congressional earmarking. There will be no direct examination of her record as governor or her fitness for national office. Brought to you by...
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In short, McCain and his Republican tacticians think that the American people should shut up and be happy with whatever happy talk the campaign wishes to engage in via staged rallies and campaign ads. That is almost exactly what McCain spokesperson Nicolle Wallace told Jay Carney of Time Magazine.
I created the Palin Watch widget to record the elapsed time from her entry into the race, until she agrees to answer questions in a fair, independent, national media forum. There is simply no other way to assess her ability to perform the job she seeks. A candid give and take with probing journalists reveals more of a candidates knowledge and insight than a speech that was probably prepared by aides. The job she wants is far too important to give to an unknown quantity who arrogantly declines to open herself up to the people she would serve.
The Palin Watch was inspired in part by the Obama Watch, a device that Chris Wallace used to goad Barack Obama into appearing on his Fox News Sunday program. The difference is that I am not pimping my own show, or any show, so long as Palin makes herself available to press scrutiny.
Americans must rise up and demand that McCain free Sarah Palin. The time is now to come clean so that voters have sufficient information to make an informed judgment. Democracy is in a sorry state if political strategists can hawk candidates like soda pop without ever disclosing the ingredients.
A Daily Kos diary highlights Heart's (Wilson sisters) reaction to the use of Barracuda as a theme song for Sarah "Pit Bull with Lipstick" Palin. This abuse of Heart's property rights is not, however, an isolated case.
What are some examples?
Singer Jackson Browne is suing the McCain campaign 
and the Ohio Republican Party for copyright infringement because his song "Running on Empty" was used in an ad by the state party, which Browne's lawyers say "McCain and his campaign were well aware of."
McCain campaign re-cut a web ad after comedian Mike Myers' publicist complained about the use of footage of Myers and fellow Saturday Night Live alum Dana Carvey's Wayne's World characters
The McCain campaign had to pull and re-cut a web ad after Frankie Valli's record label, the Warner Music Group asserted its copyright claims over the use of the song "Can't Take My Eyes Off Of You."
Earlier this year, the copyright owners for the "Rocky" theme song "telephoned the McCain campaign to politely complain it was being used without permission."
As noted,
Ironically, McCain has joked on the campaign trail that he has refrained from using music by his beloved ABBA because of "licensing and other concerns." "If you're not careful you can alienate some Swedes," said McCain.
Even though this has received some visibility and lawsuits
are evidently underway, the problems are not ending. For example, the RNC used Heart's "Barracuda" as a theme song for Sarah "Pit Bull with Lipstick" Palin.
The musicians objected to this unauthorized use of their property and requested that the Republican Party stop using Barracuda (or other Heart music).
We have asked the Republican campaign publicly not to use our music. We hope our wishes will be honored.
Heart's request evidently had a powerful impact on the RNC and McCain campaign. Twenty minutes after that post hit the web, "the GOP ended the evening after McCain's speech with the song, "Barracuda.""
"The Republican campaign did not ask for permission to use the song, nor would they have been granted that permission."
Not just about the theft of property rights
This is not simply a question of "property rights" and intellectual property, although that is clearly on the table. There is also the question of seeming political endorsement. Many of these artists are significant environmental concerns. As to Heart, for example,
Nancy Wilson: In the interim between the last Heart studio album and since The Road Home, we worked a lot on environmental causes. We did quite a few benefits, played for Al Gore and Hillary Clinton, and Bill Clinton as well. So we did a lot of benefits, stuff for old growth, a lot of wildlife causes.
Hmmm ... does this seem like a record that would embrace the McCain-Palin ticket?
The McCain-Palin ticket is far from Green (to the extent it is green, it is awash with green from fossil-fuel contributors). And, at least some of these artists are far from R in their politics. And, these artists are challenging what is going on. Re Jackson Browne,
Singer and songwriter Jackson Browne is not amused that his song "Running On Empty" has been used in a television commercial for John McCain and against Barack Obama.Indeed, with a full litigation tank, Browne has filed a federal lawsuit in Los Angeles against McCain, the Republican National Committee (RNC) and the Ohio Republican Party (ORP), accusing them of copyright infringement, statutory violations, and violation of the right of publicity. ...
This is a broad-side of legal complaints against the RNC and ORP. It is hard, from this layman's perspective, to see their substantive defense to this complaint.
But why is Browne so outraged?
Browne's complaint asserts that he has had a "legacy as an advocate for social and environmental justice" and that he has "closely associated himself with liberal causes and Democratic political candidates."The complaint states that Browne filed the lawsuit "in order to vindicate an egregious, intentional false association" created by agents of John McCain by "suggesting that Browne sponsors and endorses McCain," which is "a false association that directly conflicts with the political and social values that Browne has espoused and supported throughout his career."
There is, for Browne, a clear attempt to take his property and his stature to use in support of anti-environmental causes: namely the McCain for President campaign.
Imagine ...
Could you imagine a press conference with a number of artists who have had the Republican Party illegally using their intellectual property?
Imagine a press conference where these varied artists speak strongly of the need to confront global warming, develop a cleaner energy future, and other environmental challenges.
Imagine that at the press conference, they speak out against the McCain campaign's and RNC's disdain for private property rights.
Imagine that they use these as clear examples of why they so strongly support Barack Obama for President, because of McCain/Palin's disdain for environmental issues, private property rights, and other fundamental American values.
Imagine ...
John McCain may not be able to find the right Walter Reed, but we sure can. Watch this new video from Americans United for Change.
*** Media Advisory for Saturday, September 6th @ 11AM EDT at Walter Reed Army Medical Center ***
IRAQ WAR VETERANS TO HOLD PRESS CONFERENCE OUTSIDE OF WALTER REED TO REMIND JOHN MCCAIN WHERE IT IS, CALL MCCAIN OUT FOR TURNING HIS BACK ON AMERICA'S VETERANSMcCain Campaign Gaffe Involving Walter Reed Underscores McCain's Shameful Veterans Record
Washington, DC - Veterans will meet outside of Walter Reed Army Medical Center on Saturday, September 6th at 11 a.m. to discuss John McCain's shameful record on veterans health care, the GI bill, his suggestion to ration care to only the combat wounded, and other veterans issues. The press conference comes just two days after John McCain's campaign mistakenly used an image of Walter Reed Middle School in North Hollywood, CA instead of an image of Walter Reed Army Medical Center. The gaffe symbolizes how McCain, like President Bush, has not provided America's veterans and service members at Walter Reed and around the world the attention and care they need and deserve.
WHO: Brian McGough, a U.S. Army Veteran who served in Iraq and Afghanistan with the 101st Airborne Division
Kayla Williams a U.S. Army Veteran who served in Iraq and is the Author of "Love My Rifle More Than You:Young and Female in the US Army"
Other veterans - TBA
WHAT: Press Conference in front of Walter Reed Army Medical Center
WHEN: Tomorrow, Saturday, September 6 at 11 a.m. EDT
WHERE: Main Gate of Walter Reed
Intersection of Georgia Avenue NW and Elder Street NW
Washington, DC
30McCain's Disappointing Record on Veterans' Issues
McCain Record Opposing Healthcare for Veterans
McCain Has Voted To Cut, Eliminate, or Gut Veterans Health Care Funding At Least 27 Times. [HR 4939, Vote #98, 4/26/06; SCR 83, Vote #70, 3/16/06; SCR 83, Vote #67, 3/16/06; SCR 83, Vote #63, 3/16/06; SCR 83, Vote #41, 3/14/06; HR 4297, Vote #15, 2/13/06; HR 4297, Vote #7, 2/2/06; S 2020, Vote #343, 11/17/05; HR 2863, Vote #251, 10/5/05; HR 2528, Vote #242, 9/22/05; HR 2361, Vote # 165, 6/29/05; HR 2361, Vote # 166, 6/29/05; HR 2361, Vote # 168, 6/29/05; HR 1268, Vote #90, 4/12/05; HR 1268, Vote #89, 4/12/05; SCR 95, Vote #40, 3/10/04; S 1689, Vote #379, 10/14/03; SCR 23, Vote #81, 3/25/03; S 2168, Vote #185, 7/7/98; S 936, Vote #168, 7/10/97; HR 3666, Vote #276, 9/5/96; HR 3666, Vote # 275, 9/5/96; HR 2099, Vote #466, 9/27/95; HR 4624, Vote #256, 8/4/94; HR 1335, Vote #97, 4/1/93; S 2884, Vote #226, 8/4/90; HR 2519, Vote #132, 7/17/91]
· McCain Was One of 13 Senators To Vote Against Increase In Veterans' Healthcare. In 2006, McCain was one of 13 senators to vote against an amendment to add $430 million for outpatient and inpatient health care and treatment for veterans. Amendment passed 84-13. [HR 4939, Vote #98, 4/26/06]
· McCain Voted To Cut Funding For Veterans' Healthcare. In 2006, McCain voted against an amendment to strike a provision in the 2007 Budget that will hold farm programs, veterans, Social Security, and Medicaid hostage to rising health care costs by creating automatic cuts once an arbitrary level of spending is reached in the Medicare program. The amendment failed 50-50. [SCR 83, Vote #70, 3/16/06]
· McCain Voted Against Increasing Veterans' Funding By $10 Billion. In 2006, McCain voted against an amendment to eliminate a tripling of fees for veterans in the TRICARE health care program by raising the discretionary spending limit by approximately $10 billion. The provisions would have been fully offset by eliminating certain corporate tax breaks. The amendment failed 46-53. [SCR 83, Vote #67, 3/16/06]
· McCain Voted Against Veteran's Healthcare Program. In 2006, McCain voted against an amendment to make veterans' health benefits a mandatory program, spending $104 billion over five years. The funding would have been offset by closing corporate tax loopholes and rolling back the Bush tax cuts for millionaires. Amendment rejected 46-54. [SCR 83, Vote #63, 3/16/06]
· McCain Voted Against A $1.5 Billion Increase In Healthcare For Veterans. In 2006, McCain voted against an amendment that increased the discretionary spending limit by $1.5 billion to $874.5 billion to provide an increase in funding for veterans' medical services. It would be offset by ending certain corporate tax breaks. Amendment rejected 46-54. [SCR 83, Vote #41, 3/14/06]
· McCain Failed To Vote To Support Healthcare For Veterans In Lieu of Tax Breaks For Millionaires. In 2006, McCain failed to vote on a motion to instruct conferees to insist that the tax reconciliation conference report includes funding to support health needs of veterans and military personnel in lieu of an extension of capital gains or dividends tax breaks for individuals with incomes of more than $1 million. Motion failed 40-53. [HR 4297, Vote #15, 2/13/06]
· McCain Voted Against $19 billion For Military And Veterans' Hospitals. In 2006, McCain voted against an amendment that provided $19 billion for military and veterans' hospitals, offset by limiting the dividend and capital-gains tax rates to individuals earning less than $1 million. Amendment failed 44-53. [HR 4297, Vote #7, 2/2/06]
· McCain Voted Against Mental Healthcare For Veterans. In 2005, McCain Voted against an amendment that provided an additional $500 million per year for the next five years for mental health services for veterans. The funding would be offset by deferring tax cuts for those making $1 million per year. Amendment rejected 43-55. [S 2020, Vote #343, 11/17/05]
· McCain Voted Against Considering Inflation In Veterans Funding Formula. In 2005, McCain voted against an amendment that would establish a future funding formula for health care for former members of the Armed Forces takes into account changes in population and inflation. Amendment failed 48-51. [HR 2863, Vote #251, 10/5/05]
· McCain Voted Against A $10 Million Increase In Readjustment Counseling for Veterans. In 2005, McCain voted against an amendment that would provide an additional $10 million for the Readjustment Counseling Service, offset with a $10 million reduction in the HealthVet account. The amendment failed 48-50. [HR 2528, Vote #242, 9/22/05]
· McCain Failed To Vote For A $1.5 Billion Increase In Veterans' Healthcare. In 2005, McCain failed to vote for an amendment that would add $1.5 billion of funding to the Department of Veterans' Affairs for medical services provided by the Veterans Health Administration. Amendment passed 96-0. [HR 2361, Vote # 165, 6/29/05; HR 2361, Vote # 166, 6/29/05; HR 2361, Vote # 168, 6/29/05]
· McCain Voted Against $1.9 Billion In Emergency Funding For Veterans' Hospitals. In 2005, McCain voted against an amendment that designated $1.9 billion in emergency funding for veterans' hospitals. The $1.9 billion provided for the VA by the underlying amendment will help the VA to cover the costs of caring for these new veterans, and ensure that the VA is able to provide them with the care they deserve. The amendment failed 46-54. [HR 1268, Vote #90, 4/12/05]
· McCain Voted Against A $2 Billion Increase In Veterans' Funding. In 2005, McCain voted against an amendment that would increase funding for the Veterans Affairs Department by $1.98 billion and designate it as emergency spending. It would stipulate that $840 million be used for veterans' regional health networks; $610 million be used to address the needs of service members deployed in Iraq and Afghanistan; and $525 million be used to provide mental health care and treatment. Amendment failed 46-54. [HR 1268, Vote #89, 4/12/05]
· McCain Voted Against Creating A Reserve Fund For Veterans' Health Care. In 2004, McCain voted against an amendment that would create a reserve fund to allow for an increase in veterans medical care by $1.8 billion, the amount determined by Veterans' Affairs Committee to meet existing needs; and is fully offset by closing tax loopholes. Amendment rejected 46-51. [SCR 95, Vote #40, 3/10/04]
· McCain Voted Against A $1.3 billion Increase In Veterans' Health Benefits. In 2003, McCain voted to table an amendment that included a $1. Billion increase in funding for health benefits. The amendment would reduce the amount provided for Iraqi reconstruction by $5.03 billion, and redirect that funding for domestic programs, including $1.8 billion for veterans' health benefits, $1 billion for school reconstruction, renovation and repair and class size reduction, and $1.5 billion for capital improvements for federal highways. It also would express the sense of the Senate that Congress should consider an additional $5.03 billion in funding for Iraqi reconstruction during the fiscal 2005 budget and appropriations process. The motion to table passed 59-35. [S 1689, Vote #379, 10/14/03]
· McCain Voted Against Increasing Veterans' Health Care Program. In 2003, McCain voted against an amendment that would increase spending on the TRICARE program by $20.3 billion over 10 years to give members of the National Guard and Reserves and their families greater access to the health care program. The increase would be offset by a reduction in tax cuts. Amendment rejected 46-51. [SCR 23, Vote #81, 3/25/03]
· McCain Voted Against Increasing Veterans' Health Administration By $1 Billion. In 1998, McCain voted against an amendment that would add $1 billion for Veterans' Health Administration Medical Care. The funding would budget neutral and would come from the termination of the space station program. The amendment failed 33-66. [S 2168, Vote #185, 7/7/98]
· McCain Voted Against $400 Million In Veterans' Funding. In 1997, McCain voted to table an amendment that would permit $400 million in DOD funds to be transferred to Department of Veterans' Affairs to provide health benefits under laws administered by Secretary. Motion to table agreed to 58-41. [S 936, Vote #168, 7/10/97]
· McCain Voted Against Covering Spina Bifida For The Children of Veterans. In 1996, McCain voted against the germaneness of an amendment that would extend veterans health care and related benefits to the children of Vietnam Veterans suffering from spina bifida, a spinal cord birth defect that causes neurological damage. The amendment was judged germane 62-35. [HR 3666, Vote #276, 9/5/96]
· McCain Voted Against Preventing Cuts In Veterans' Healthcare Funding. In 1996, McCain voted to table an amendment that would prohibit the Department of Veterans' Affairs from reducing funds to any state for health care facilities in fiscal 1997 below the fiscal 1996 funding level. Motion to table passed. [HR 3666, Vote # 275, 9/5/96]
· McCain Voted Against Increasing Veterans' Healthcare Funding By $511 Million. In 1995, McCain voted against an amendment which would increase the funding for veterans' medical care by $511 million; and offsets the cost of this amendment by limiting any tax cut to families with incomes of less than $100,000. Amendment failed 51-49. [HR 2099, Vote #466, 9/27/95]
· McCain Voted To Restrict Funding For Veterans' Care Facilities. In 1994, McCain voted against tabling an amendment that the amendment would prohibit the construction of three inpatient facilities, located in Hawaii, California, and Tennessee. The projects in Hawaii and California will provide access to acute care for large numbers of veterans in the areas to be served, without which they would not have access to VA inpatient services. The project in Tennessee involves the correction of serious seismic deficiencies in the Memphis VA facility, which is located in a dangerous earthquake area. Motion to table passed 62-36. [HR 4624, Vote #256, 8/4/94]
· McCain Voted To Cut $25 Million From Veterans' Health Programs. In 1993, McCain not to table an amendment that transferred $25 million of veterans' health funding to programs for the Veterans Department to occupation conversion and employment training programs for veterans. Motion to table passed 57-43. [HR 1335, Vote #97, 4/1/93]
· McCain Voted Against Increasing Veterans' Healthcare & Research Funding By $431 Million. In 1991, McCain voted against an amendment to increase veterans' program funding by $378 million for medical care and $53 million for medical and prosthetic research. Amendment failed 35-64. [HR 2519, Vote #132, 7/17/91]
· McCain Voted Against $200 Million For Veterans' Healthcare. In 1990, McCain voted to table an amendment that transferred $200 million to the Department of Veterans' Affairs medical account. The money would be transferred from the Strategic Defense Initiative. Motion to table passed 54-43. [S 2884, Vote #226, 8/4/90]
McCain Record Opposing Funding for Veterans' Programs
McCain Voted To Gut, Eliminate, or Cut Funding for Veterans Programs At Least 18 Times. [SCR 21, Vote #114, 3/23/07][SCR 18, Vote #55, 3/16/05][HR 2673, Vote #3, 1/22/04][SCR 23, Vote #74, 3/21/03][S 2400, Vote #136, 6/23/04][HR 2861, Vote #449, 11/12/03][SCR 23, Vote #83, 3/25/03][HR 2620, Vote $334, 11/8/01][HR 2620, Vote #269, 8/2/01][HR 4635, Vote #272, 10/12/00][HR 2684, Vote #328, 10/15/99][SCR 57, Vote #115, 5/16/96][HR 2099, Vote #470, 9/27/95][HR 2099, Vote #465, 9/27/95][SCR 13, Vote #226, 5/25/95] [S 1, Vote #76, 2/22/95][S 869, Vote #259, 11/20/91][HR 4624, Vote #306, 9/27/94]
· McCain Voted Against A $3.5 Billion Funding Increase For Veterans' Healthcare. In 2007, McCain voted against the 2008 Budget Resolution that included at $3.5 billion increase in funding for veterans' healthcare programs. The bill passed 52-47. [SCR 21, Vote #114, 3/23/07]
· McCain Voted Against Increasing FY 2006 Veter